The Opening

Grant checking out the Paper

Day 17 (7/1/12)

As promised in my last post, I will do a follow up on the opening at the Urban Ecology Center. It was a beautiful warm day outside which was great for doing summer activities but bad for having people show up for an art show. It turned out to be a small but enthusiastic crowd. I was pleased to see the people who did show up though since many were totally unexpected. I had been quite worried about the talk I was supposed to give since in spite of years as a teacher I don’t really like public speaking. Since most of the people were old friends or students it went over really well. Before the artists spoke Danni Gendelman from the Urban Ecology Center spoke of their history and their purpose. Again I was reminded how proud I was being associated with this group. They are about to open another branch center in the Menomonee Valley area in September. In both cases they started at the request of residents who wanted to take their parks back. The parks had become overrun with drugs, gangs and prostitution. At first they worked out of a doublewide trailer until they could get the funds to construct their current building. Not only did they clean up the parks but now they offer environmental education and alternative activities for the youth. They were so successful at Riverside that they courted to do another on in the Menomonee Valley. They have become an inspiration and model to cities all over the U.S. For more information on the Urban Ecology Center you can check out their website at: http://urbanecologycenter.org/ or http://www.facebook.com/urbanecologycenter .  Remember, my work will be there into September.

Frank & Mary Lou

Mark & I 

Zaylia

Eileen and Sally

Fireplace Art

Rita & Z